1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly apparatus which assembles seal packing at a core plate (back plate) which forms a tank of a heat exchanger and a method of assembly of seal packing using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-110432 U describes an assembly apparatus and a method of assembly of seal packing. In this prior art, the seal packing is gripped by a gripping mechanism and conveyed to above a core plate, then the gripping mechanism is opened to make the seal packing drop and thereby insert the seal packing into a ring-shaped groove of the core plate.
However, in the above prior art, the seal packing is made to drop from above the core plate, so there is no guarantee that the seal packing can be reliably inserted into the ring-shaped groove of the core plate.
For example, when the side walls of the ring-shaped groove of the core plate have oil deposited on them, the seal packing can end up sticking to the side walls and not dropping to the bottom of the ring-shaped groove.
Further, for example, when the core plate deforms by heat when soldering the tubes to the core plate in the previous step, the seal packing may end up deviating from the ring-shaped groove of the core plate.